When I wear at least one cotton clothe and using escalators in different buildings containing escalators,
I often get electrical currents in first touch of the relevant escalator,
but right afterwards I can keep using the escalator until reaching the upper floor — usually without feeling any further electrical currents.
This problem happened to me especially in winters when I was more more heavily clothed, but it definitely happened to me in all other seasons of the year;
It happened to me both in Western Asia and Europe where a 4 season year is available and in South East Asia where a 3 season year is available (no Fall season as generally all tropic trees are evergreen).
Why do I often get electric currents from escalators and how to avoid this?
If I need to stop wearing cotton based clothes, than I might just have to keep suffering from this but if I don't, maybe there is some accessory I can wear to stop getting these currents?
Best Answer
Your experience is common; here is the explanation.
Small amounts of electric charge can be moved about by friction between dissimilar, nonconducting materials (amber, glass, cotton cloth, floor carpets, shoe rubber, cat fur, etc.). If the charged surfaces are in humid air, they become sufficiently conductive to bleed those charges away before they get the chance to accumulate in sufficient amounts to produce an electric shock.
This means that in dry conditions as prevail in winter months, especially in air-conditioned buildings, those static electric buildups persist, and if your shoe soles and the floor surface are the right combination to segregate charge, your body will build up a goodly charge all over the outside of your skin and clothing which then sparks to the first (doorknob, escalator grip, elevator button, door frame) you touch after scuffing your feet on the carpet as you walk about.
Different shoes produce different results, which means that your winter footwear may be particularly good at scuffing up some static electricity, which would also add to the seasonal effect.
The easiest way to avoid getting finger shocks is to touch the object briefly with your elbow before touching it with your finger. Your elbow skin has fewer nerve endings in it than your fingertip does and the shock will be a lot less noticeable.
As you can see, there's a lot of interesting physics at work here!